Winslow History | Poll books 1701-1734

Poll books 1701 -1734

Before the 1834 Reform Act, voters in Bucks outside the parliamentary boroughs elected 2 MPs. Voting took place at Aylesbury over several days, and had to be done in person. There was no secret ballot. The qualification was freehold property worth 40s (at medieval values) but Winslow had very little freehold so there were few voters, although some Winslow men got a vote through owning freehold property elsewhere. Bucks had over 4,000 voters in all. For 1701-1702 there is a parish-by-parish record kept by one of the candidates (Centre for Bucks Studies, D-X 993). Poll books were printed after the election from 1705 to 1722, recording who had voted for which candidates. For 1732, the source is a handwritten poll book recording each vote as it was cast (Centre for Bucks Studies, D/MH 40/2); names were written down as the clerk heard them. See the History of Parliament website for more information. After 1734 there wasn't another contested election in Bucks for 50 years: one Whig and one Tory were returned unopposed.

8 Jan 1700/01

Candidates (those in bold were elected):
Whig: Goodwin Wharton, Robert Dormer
Neutral: William Cheyne
Tory: Sir John Verney
Thomas Blake and Rev. John Crofts, the only voters in Winslow, voted for Cheyne and Verney. In Granborough, Wharton received 11 votes, Dormer 10 and Cheyne 1. In Little Horwood there were 4 for Dormer, 3 for Cheyne, 3 for Wharton and 1 for Verney.

Mrs Cary Gardiner wrote to her nephew Sir John Verney on 13 Dec 1700 (CBS, Verney Papers Microfilm 51):
I am sure I have bin very unesy in my mind evar since you rit me word of Mr Dormars standing becaus he will take of all the voyces in Quanton and Marsh, and Adington, and I feare many in Winslow and Lodershall ... tho he is to near a man to be popolar ... I hope Mr Barkar may make you sume at Winslow ...

"Mr Barkar" could be Richard Barker of Great Horwood.

10 Dec 1701

Candidates:
Whig: Goodwin Wharton, Robert Dormer
Neutral: William Cheyne
Winslow now had five voters. Thomas Blake and Rev. John Crofts voted for Cheyne only. Richard Bigg voted for Cheyne and Wharton. Richard Seaton and William Giles sr voted for Wharton and Dormer. It's not clear how Richard Seaton had a vote, but it was probably from freehold property outside Winslow. Granborough voted Dormer 11, Wharton 10, Cheyne 1. Little Horwood voted Cheyne 7, Wharton and Dormer 4 each.

1702

Candidates:
Whig: Goodwin Wharton, Robert Dormer
Tory: William Cheyne
Sir Denys Hampson was also a candidate but did not campaign.
Thomas Blake and Rev. John Crofts voted for Cheyne. Daniel Gyles voted for Wharton and Dormer. John Keen, who voted for Cheyne, is also listed under Winslow with Q for "quaere" and actually lived at Great Horwood. Granborough voted Wharton 12, Dormer 12. Little Horwood voted Cheyne 12, Wharton and Dormer 4 each.

1704 by-election: Sir Richard Temple beat Francis Duncombe. No poll book known.

1705

Candidates:
Whigs: Robert Dormer, Sir Richard Temple
Tory: William Cheyne
Robert Lowndes esq., Rev. John Crofts, Thomas Blake gent.and Richard Bigg gent., voted for Cheyne.
William Gyles and Daniel Gyles voted for Dormer and Temple.

1710

Candidates:
Tories: John Verney (Viscount Fermanagh) and Sir Henry Seymour
Whigs: Sir Edmund Denton and Richard Hampden

Robert Lowndes esq. and Rev. John Crofts voted for Fermanagh and Seymour.
William Gyles sr and jr, Daniel Gyles and Samuel Norman (all Baptists) voted for Denton and Hampden.

1713

Candidates:
Tories: John Verney (Viscount Fermanagh) and John Fleetwood
Whigs: Sir Edmund Denton and Richard Hampden

Robert Lowndes esq., Rev. John Crofts and Richard Bigg, gent., voted for Fermanagh and Fleetwood. So did Robert Shelton who qualified to vote through property at Adstock, Nicholas Merwin with property at Iver, Thomas Blake with property at Steeple Claydon, and John Wyatt, Matthew Hobbs and Matthew Deverell (all Swanbourne).
Daniel Gyles and Samuel Norman voted for Denton and Hampden. So did Joseph Gyles who qualified through property at Stony Stratford and William Norman with property at Steeple Claydon. Samuel Norman is recorded as voting again through his property at Steeple Claydon.

1722

Candidates:
Tory: Montague Garrard Drake
Government Whig: Sir Thomas Lee
Independent Whig: Fleetwood Dormer

Robert Lowndes esq. and Thomas Blake voted for Drake and Lee.
Daniel Gyles, Rev. James Edmonds and Thomas Foster (Baptist, qualified through property at Stewkley) voted for Dormer only.

No returns known for 1727

1734

Candidates:
Whig: Hon. Sir William Stanhope, Sir Thomas Lee
Tory: Richard Lowndes

Daniel Giles and Thomas Foster gent. (the Baptists) voted for Stanhope and Lowndes
Rev. James Edmonds, Richard Bigg, Thomas Blake, John Bull and Benjamin Ingram (qualified through property at Stewkley), Thomas Whitehaves and William Gibbs (qualified through property at Great Horwood), Robert Aidy [Eden?] (qualified through property at Buckingham), William Hobbs (qualified through property at Swanbourne) voted for Lowndes only.
Richard Lowndes himself voted for Lee only.